Claim that Israel's Ahmadinejad project failed

The US-based New York Times newspaper alleged in a report that Israel had made contact with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regarding the leadership of Iran.

The report claims that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad attempted to win Ahmadinejad over and implemented a secret plan to install him as the head of Iran. Citing US and Iranian officials with knowledge of the operation, the report alleges that Mossad held secret meetings in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, that Ahmadinejad's travel and accommodation expenses were financed, and that during the early days of the war waged by the US and Israel against Iran, Ahmadinejad was extracted from the Iranian capital, Tehran, and taken to an Israeli-controlled safe house.

The report states that the first phase of the secret plan to bring Ahmadinejad—who pursued a staunchly anti-Israel policy during his presidency from 2005 to 2013 but adopted a more moderate position in later years—to the Israeli side began in Hungary. The report notes that then-Mossad Chief David Barnea personally traveled to Budapest in 2024 to meet with Ahmadinejad, and that Mossad, having invited him under the pretext of a climate conference, made contact with him in Budapest and informed the CIA of the development.

Budapest conference used as a front

The report states that Gergely Deli, rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest, received an unusual request from a high-level Hungarian government official at the beginning of 2024, asking him to organize a conference on climate change and invite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a guest. Pointing out that the conference was planned to be used as a front for secret meetings between Ahmadinejad and Mossad officials, the report notes that Ahmadinejad visited Budapest in 2024 and then visited again in 2025, just days before the war began in Iran. The report claims that Ahmadinejad's bodyguards reported that during these visits, he left their side twice and disappeared for long meetings, telling his guards that he was meeting with university faculty members.

Plan collapsed in Tehran

The report alleges that the operation entered its most critical phase in late February of this year, during the early days of the war waged by the US and Israel against Iran, and that according to US and Iranian officials, Israel attempted to extract Ahmadinejad from Tehran, where he lived under close surveillance, to implement the plan to overthrow the regime. Noting that the area where Ahmadinejad was located was targeted in an Israeli airstrike on February 28, the report claims that after the attack, a black Peugeot arrived at the scene, picked up Ahmadinejad, and took him to a safe house controlled by Mossad agents. The report states that the plan failed because Ahmadinejad was uncomfortable with the chaotic evacuation operation and was deeply disappointed by Israel's plan to restore him to power. Having left the safe house under unclear conditions, Ahmadinejad has since only been seen briefly at the funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The report also states that an Israeli regime change plan involving the arming of Kurdish groups and their infiltration into Iran also failed.

Claim that Ahmadinejad is under house arrest

Furthermore, according to four unnamed high-level Iranian officials, the report claims that after most of his contacts with Israel were revealed, Ahmadinejad was placed under house arrest under the supervision of the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence unit. According to statements attributed to people in Ahmadinejad's inner circle, the former president believed he could only return to power with the support of foreign powers. One of his former close associates said that Ahmadinejad did not do this for money, but to regain power. According to another former aide, Ahmadinejad thought that if he returned to power, Iran could recognize Israel and relations between the two countries could be normalized under the Abraham Accords.

Ahmadinejad, who during his presidency advocated for the destruction of Israel, denied the Holocaust, and accelerated Iran's nuclear program, later reduced his anti-Israel rhetoric and began to describe himself as a reformer.

News Source: 12punto